The present disclosure relates to a vehicular information-processing device that processes information regarding application of a plurality of driving modes of a vehicle.
Conventionally, vehicles that use an internal combustion engine and a motor as drive sources have been widely known. Such vehicles include plug-in hybrid vehicles. Such a vehicle has, as driving modes, a CD mode (first mode), in which the charge amount of the battery is consumed, and a CS mode (second mode), in which the battery charge amount is maintained. In the CD mode, for example, priority is given to EV driving, in which the engine is stopped and only the motor is used. That is, use of the engine is restrained or prohibited. In the CS mode, priority is given to HV driving, in which at least one of the engine and the motor is used as necessary to maintain the charge amount of the battery.
In recent years, vehicular information-processing devices have been proposed that calculates a travel route from a departure place to a destination and assigns, as a vehicle driving mode, the first mode or the second mode to each of the sections in the calculated travel route. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-12605 discloses one example of the vehicular control device that has such an information processing function for a vehicle.
The device of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-12605 applies the second mode as the mode for the section of the highest average vehicle speed among the sections in a travel route and applies the first mode as the mode for the remaining sections. The device also calculates a prediction value of the remaining battery level of the vehicle when the vehicle will have traveled from the current position to the destination with the applied modes. If the calculated prediction value is less than the lower limit value, which corresponds to depletion of the battery, the device changes the mode of the section of the second highest average vehicle speed from the first mode to the second mode and then re-calculates the prediction value of the remaining battery level at the destination. Thereafter, until the prediction value of the remaining battery level of the vehicle at the destination reaches the vicinity of the lower limit value, the device successively changes the mode of the section of the next highest average vehicle speed from the first mode to the second mode. When the prediction value of the remaining battery level at the destination reaches the vicinity of the lower limit value, the device makes a plan using the modes applied to the respective sections.
To improve the fuel efficiency, the device of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-12605 plans assignment of the modes to consume the battery by actively employing the motor to drive the vehicle in sections suitable for the EV driving in the travel route from the departure place to the destination. However, depending on the travel route, such planned assignment of the modes will not necessarily improve the fuel efficiency as expected. Further, the conventional device cannot even notify the user of such a possibility.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present disclosure to provide a vehicular information-processing device that is capable of notifying a user of the actual magnitude of fuel efficiency improvement expected to be achieved through a travel plan.